Four years ago, LIV Golf challenged every professional golfer with a tough question: How much is your loyalty worth? Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund responded with $5.3 billion. Now, with that funding set to end after the 2026 season, professional golf faces a new question: What happens to a league and its players when the money is gone?

The Wall Street Journal reported on April 30 that PIF will stop funding LIV Golf after this season. Players and staff are expected to be told by Thursday. Earlier this month at LIV’s Mexico City event, CEO Scott O’Neill admitted the league is “funded through the season” and said he would “work like crazy” to keep it going. Just a week before, O’Neill had said the league was “in the best shape it’s ever been in its history, period, end of sentence.” But the numbers suggested otherwise.

LIV began at Centurion Club in June 2022, introducing no cuts, shotgun starts, and guaranteed contracts. These changes altered the financial structure of professional golf. LIV signed Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, and later Jon Rahm. These signings put the PGA Tour under pressure for three years. The league’s operating loss increased by 39% from its first to second year, rising from $244 million to $394 million. Broadcasting rights made up only 8% of total revenue.

The 2026 season opener in Riyadh drew an average of 23,000 viewers over four rounds. A league with this level of spending cannot be sustained by such a small television audience. No structural reform will change that basic fact.

PIF’s decision to exit is part of a larger shift. The fund’s 2026–2030 strategy now focuses on domestic Saudi investments instead of international projects. LIV, which lost over $1 billion from 2022 to 2024, did not meet the new criteria and was cut.

In January 2026, reports surfaced of a change in the kingdom’s approach to some investments. Soon after, Golf Channel confirmed that unnamed LIV players threatened to skip the Mexico City opener because of unpaid first quarter performance payments. This was an early indication that the league’s finances were already under pressure before the official announcement.

Eight events remain in the 2026 schedule. The league will finish its season. What follows is not yet written.

LIV Golf changed the PGA Tour: Just not the way it intended

LIV’s entry forced immediate changes. The PGA Tour responded by increasing its total purse to over $560 million for the 2022–23 season, a 33% rise from the previous year. The Players Championship was raised to $25 million. Several events that had not previously reached $12 million were increased to $20 million. The PGA Tour, which LIV aimed to disrupt, emerged with more resources and a tighter structure, reducing its card threshold from 125 to 100 players.

Players who stayed with the PGA Tour now watch their former teammates face a much tougher path. DeChambeau, whose first four-year contract was reportedly worth $125 million, met with others during Masters week to talk about possibly returning to the PGA Tour. Earlier this year, he, Rahm, and Cameron Smith had already turned down the Returning Member Program. DeChambeau’s reported request for a $500 million renewal was not taken seriously by LIV. PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp made the situation clear.

“There were rules, and they were broken. With rules comes accountability. It has to be accounted for in some shape or form.”

Rahm’s situation stands out. When he joined LIV in December 2023, it gave LIV the credibility it needed while the PIF-PGA Tour agreement was still being worked out. The PGA Tour saw this as a surprise move, and negotiations stopped. That effect is still felt. Rahm is now in a dispute with the DP World Tour over his membership, and his spot in the 2027 Ryder Cup remains uncertain. The PGA Tour has not shown any interest in reopening talks with him.

LIV’s eight remaining events will be played. The contracts will expire. And the tour that once asked professional golfers to name their price will spend its final months discovering that institutional survival has no such negotiation.